


Itsy Bitsy Spider

by orphan_account



Category: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TV 2012)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-22
Updated: 2017-01-22
Packaged: 2018-09-19 02:54:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,249
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9414803
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: A little drabble set in the Mirror 'verse.





	

Raphael grabbed a clear plastic cup from the counter, dunked it in the soapy water, and ran the sponge around it’s milky interior. Out in the living room, the throaty  hum of the vacuum paused abruptly, then resumed as Donatello likely found another electrical outlet. The four boys had drawn straws after breakfast, to see who got to go grocery shopping with Sensei and who had to stay home and clean. Mikey and Leo lucked out, Donnie beat Raph to the vacuum cleaner, which left Raph stuck with the mess left from four teenage boys trying to cook four different things for breakfast.

He wasn’t sure why he looked up at the cupboard. But something black and the size of a silver dollar caught his eye when he did, sending him skittering backwards and flicking soapy water everywhere. Raph crashed into a chair and caught it in a sudsy death grip before it could fall. He stood tense, eyes locked on the biggest spider he’d ever seen outside of that stupid documentary they’d watched as kids. It was too high for him to reach up and smash it, and besides, he had nothing within reach with which to kill it.

 _Don’t freak out, don’t freak out._ Raph gulped and let go of the chair. The spider remained still, and Raph inched towards the sink. He snapped off the running water and dared to take his eyes off the spider to look under the sink for bug spray.

No such luck. Raph slammed the cupboard shut and looked back at the spider. It started to move—it took a few steps, stopped, then took a few steps more. It was heading for the exhaust hood over the stove. Two more feet and Raph would lose it, only to have it reappear later that day, or that month, or maybe it was going to make a nest and unleash a swarm of little arachnids—

_“Donnie!”_

Donnie switched off the vacuum and yanked the ear buds out of his ears, cutting off the episode of _Radiolab_ he’d been listening to. He hurried to the kitchen to find Raph standing perfectly still, save for a tiny, intermittent shudder. His wide eyes remained locked on a spot up above the sink. Donnie followed his gaze and stifled a chuckle when he saw the spider on the wall.

“Aw, Raph, it’s just a garden spider,” Donnie smiled.

“I _know_ what that is!” Raph snapped. He swallowed and edged closer to Donnie and the door.  “I can’t find the bug spray. Can you, like, watch it or something? I think the spray’s in the laundry room.”

“Nope,” Donnie replied, pocketing his mp3 player and crossing his arms. Here was an opportunity ripe for the taking, and he intended to do just that.

Raph froze and shot him a desperate glance. “C’mon, Donnie, just watch it for two seconds—”

“No. We’re not killing this spider. _You_ are going to get over your phobia.”

“We are _not_ letting this thing have free reign of the house!” Raph shot back.

“Of course not,” Donnie said. “We’re going to set it free. Or rather, _you_ are going to set it free.” The panic in Raph’s eyes was _real_ , but Donnie still had to hide a smirk behind his hand when Raph glanced back at the now-moving spider and took several terrified steps backwards.

“ _What?_ Donnie, come _on—_ it’s getting away!”

“Better hurry! All you need is a glass and a piece of paper,” Donnie said. “Which are here in the kitchen,” he added, blocking the door when Raph glanced anxiously towards the exit. Donnie glanced up at the spider; thankfully it hadn’t disappeared _yet_.

Raph snatched up the cup he’d just washed and tore a piece of paper off the notepad from the phone. “Now what?” he demanded, his damp fingers crunching the paper a little.

“Trap spider under the cup, then slide the paper under it,” Donnie instructed from the doorway.

“You’re tall enough to reach it, why don’t _you_ trap it?” Raph demanded.

“This isn’t about me,” Donnie replied.

Raph glanced back at him and saw the tiniest of smirks on his younger brother’s face. “This isn’t funny, Donnie!” he growled, dragging the chair over to the counter. “I’ll get you for this!”

“Nah, I think you’ll thank me later—oop, Raph, hurry, it’s getting away!”

Raph scrambled onto the chair and slammed the cup against the wall, so hard a little crack appeared near the lip of the cup. He lifted the cup a hair away from the wall and slipped the paper under it. This caused the spider to skitter around, and Raph could hear it’s legs clicking ever so faintly against the cup. He shuddered, resisting the urge to hurl the cup away from him and dash out of the kitchen.

“Did you get it?” Donnie asked.

“Yeah.” Raph held the trap paper side down against his palm and stepped off the chair. The spider continued to scramble inside the trap; Raph felt it’s legs tapping his hand through the paper. “Ugh!” he growled, flipping the cup over so fast he almost dropped it.

Donnie stepped forward and noticed that the trap was shaking in Raph’s trembling hands. He squinted at the spider, marveling at the unique pattern of yellow spots on its black body.

“Looks like this one is a female,” he said. “And it looks like she’s about to lay an egg sac.” A tiny, almost inaudible whimper escaped Raph’s throat, and he held the cup out further from his body. _Oops. Too far,_ Donnie thought. “They’re not poisonous, Raph,” he offered in an attempt to calm his brother down.

“Let’s just get _rid of it,_ ” Raph whispered, all traces of bravado _gone,_ replaced by something shaky and scared and two steps away from a full-on panic attack.

“Come on!” Donnie said, keeping his own voice relaxed and calming. “We can take it to the High Line garden.”

* * *

 

The boys hurried up the stairs and out onto the sidewalk. Donnie led the way, quickly finding that he had to basically clear a path through for Raph, whose eyes would _not_ leave the spider. They made the three-block trip in record time and climbed the stairs that led up to the overpass garden.

“Here, just let it go in one of these bushes,” Donnie said. Raph obliged, shaking the spider out of the cup with a frantic flick of his wrist. The spider dropped into the bush, and Raph quickly stepped backwards, bumping into Donnie. Donnie put a hand on his shoulder, noting how tense Raph _still_ was.

“See, that wasn’t so bad,” Donnie said gently.

“Actually, it was, Donnie,” Raph huffed, angrily shouldering off Donnie’s comforting hand and storming off the High Line.

“Don’t you feel a _little_ better?” Donnie asked, finally catching up with Raph at the front door of the apartment. Raph shot him a glare in reply and waited in silence for Donnie to unlock the door. Donnie snuck a quick, analytical look at Raph. He wasn’t shaking anymore, and the panic in his eyes had dwindled down into anger. He was just being surly now, Donnie concluded.

“Fine,” Donnie said. He smirked. “At least now you’ll know how to deal with those two cockroaches I saw wander into your room this morning.”

“ _What?!”_

Donnie laughed and broke into a run down the hall and through the house, Raph hot on his heels and yelling, “I’m gonna _get you_ , Donnie!”


End file.
